In 2008, I wrote:
Some years ago, here in Portland, two businessmen had a disagreement. One said to the other, "If you don't settle this dispute on my terms, I will sic my lawyers on you and they will tie you up in court for years. It will be the worst experience that you've ever had!" The other smiled benignly, and replied, "I was in Auschwitz for a year. What can your lawyers do that's worse?"
They settled, mostly on the second man's terms.
Auschwitz was one of the three concentration camps in which the second man had been imprisoned. He survived to come to Portland, raise a family, and enjoy a successful business career. Today he celebrates something that in Nazi Germany in 1944 must have seemed impossible to him: his 90th birthday.
It's now 2017, and the second man is celebrating something that in 1944 must have seemed not only impossible but inconceivable: his 99th birthday.
Happy birthday, Jake, and best wishes for many more to come.
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בָּרוּךְ אַתָה יהוה |
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אֶלוֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם |
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שֵהֵחְיָנוּ וְקִיְימָנוּ |
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וְהִגִעָנוּ לַזְמַן הַזֶה |